The forthcoming Calder Gardens museum and cultural space designed byHerzog & de Meuron with landscape designerPiet Oudolfin Philadelphia has announced it will open to the public in September 2025. Sited along a 1.8-acred site on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the sculpture garden dedicated to Alexander Calder's work. Its new director, Juana Berrio, says it "provides a perfect context for Calder Gardens to become one of the most innovative and forward-thinking spaces for art and culture today."As was previously announced by the Calder Foundation, programming for Calder Gardens is being operated jointly with the Barnes Foundation.

Choice and consequence mechanics can be a tricky thing to nail down in games, as weve seen more than a few times over the years, with the list of games that have failed to deliver on grand promises of monumental decisions that will radically change players stories being a long one (and growing longer still by the day). That said, there have also been plenty of examples of games that have successfully allowed players to leave indelible stamps on their journeys through actions that have actual, meaningful, tangible consequences- and several of them have been developed by Obsidian Entertainment.FromKnights of the Old Republic 2andFallout: New VegastoPillars of EternityandThe Outer Worlds, this is a studio that has always prided itself not only on developing some of the best RPGs around, but RPGs that tout best-in-class writing and some of the best, most gripping, most compelling implementation of choice and consequence mechanics youre going to find in a game. With that legacy and track record in mind, its no surprise that expectations in that department are going to be high for the studios upcoming fantasy RPGAvowed.Thankfully, based on what the studio has said about and shown of the game so far, it looks like fans of choice-driven storytelling have reason to be optimistic.Set in the Living Lands a part of thePillars of Eternitysworld of Eora that that specific duology hasnt covered up to this point Avowedis smartly taking players to a setting wherePillars of Eternityisnt going to be required reading for any means, but where the studio is going to be able to continue working with previously established lore. And as was the case with thePillars of Eternitytitles,Avowedis going to see players making plenty of large-scale decisions that will impact the games setting in several significant ways.Players will play as an envoy of the Empire who has been sent to the Living Lands, which, as you might imagine, is going to lead to interesting narrative choices, according to Obsidian. Supposedly, that means making plenty of large-scale political decisions affecting the larger setting throughout the course of the story, with players getting to make decisions that will shape the future of entire factions and groups. That is something that you very much expect to see in Obsidian RPGs at any rate, andAvowedlooks set to continue that trend.But of course, thats not going to be the extent of the choices thatAvowedwill have players make. Getting involved in and steering large-scale conflicts is a big part of choice-driven RPGs of this ilk, but just as important can be the smaller-scale, more intimate choices. That, after all, is where the role playing aspect of these adventures is usually able to really shine through, and again, this is an area where the developer is making all the promises. In 2024,Dragon Age: The Veilguarddisappointed a fair few people with how limited it felt in its role-playing choice mechanics with the overwhelming majority of dialogue choices being different shades of nice and nice, but also sassy soAvowedsinsistence on emphasizing moment-to-moment role-playing with meaningful choices on a smaller scale is something that fans of the genre will definitely appreciate.Therearesome areas whereAvowedis cutting back on choices in ways that we havent seen from Obsidian titles in the past. For instance, the developer has confirmed that the game wont allow players to kill NPCs who are critical to quests and the main story, which in and of itself limits player actions and decisions in major ways. Then again, its easy to understand why the studio has made that decision, given all of the complexity and challenges that the ability to kill any and every NPC would present for any games developers, especially for a full-blown AAA production. IfAvowedcan deliver well-implemented scripted narrative choices the way Obsidian says it will, the absence of more emergent and systemic freedom will be easier to get over.Of course, just as important as the ability to affect the story in choice-driven titles is how the manner in which the consequences of your actions play out. This, too, is an area where Obsidian has always excelled- but what ofAvowed? As per the studio, though there will obviously times where players will be given instant resolution for their choices, the full weight and consequences of other decisions wont become fully clear until much later in the game, with the goal being to keep players on their toes and ensure that things dont feel too predictable or telegraphed.Admittedly, a great deal of what Obsidian has said aboutAvowedis the kind of stuff that you sort of have to take on faith. Choice and consequence mechanics can be a difficult thing to properly showcase for any game before its release- after all, its only after you have played through the whole thing that you understand how impactful your decisions truly were to the story at large. Often, it takes multiple playthroughs, in fact. So yes, all of this does absolutely come with the caveat thatAvowedcould very well just end up not delivering on all of its promises- but that, of course, is where Obsidians track record comes into play.Time and again this studio has proven that it knows how to handle choice-driven storytelling and player choice mechanics better than the vast majority of RPG developers out there, based on which it has earned enough goodwill for people to be able to safely hope that their next big project will continue along those lines, especially when the studio itself is saying that it will. Does that mean theres no chance thatAvoweddoesnt disappoint with its choice and consequence mechanics? Wed have to be foolish to suggest anything like that- as weve seen a disheartening number of times, few games and studios in the industry are safe from turning out to be hot, disappointing messes. But that has rarely ever been the case with Obsidian, so hopefully our optimism inAvowedisnt going to be misplaced.Many, of course, would have preferred that the game had stuck to its original vision. Obsidian Entertainment had originally envisioned and pitched the fantasy RPG as its own take onSkyrim, before ultimately deciding that that sort of a mammoth open world adventure wasnt something it wanted to undertake. But theres an undeniable appeal to smaller, more condensed, and focused experiences, and that stands doubly true when a game is touting the sort of emphasis on choice and consequence mechanics that Avowedis. Meaningful player choices would obviously have been significantly harder to implement across a large-scaleSkyrimsized world, so if a more compact,Outer Worldssized experience is the tradeoff for way more meaningful choice and consequence mechanics, its a tradeoff that many (yours truly included) would make happily. After all, thats what many come to Obsidian RPGs for first and foremost.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The green iguana (Iguana iguana), also known as the American iguana, the common green iguana, or simply the iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. The species is native to a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico. It grows to 1.7 metres (5.6 feet) in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 metres (6.6 feet) with weights upward of 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms). Green iguanas possess a row of spines along their backs and tails, which helps to protect them from predators. Their whip-like tails can be used to deliver painful strikes, and like many other lizards, when grabbed by the tail, iguanas can allow it to break, so they can escape and eventually regenerate a new one. This green iguana was photographed in Palm Beach County, Florida, where the species has been introduced.Photograph credit: RhododendritesRecently featured: Rhinanthus angustifoliusNigeen LakeFork-tailed flycatcherArchiveMore featured pictures

January 16 Jose Calugas1275 Eleanor of Provence received permission from her son King EdwardI of England to expel Jews from the towns of Worcester, Marlborough, Cambridge and Gloucester.1809 Peninsular War: French forces under Jean-de-Dieu Soult attacked the British's amphibious evacuation under Sir John Moore at Corunna in Galicia, Spain.1862 A pumping engine at a colliery in New Hartley, England, broke and fell down the shaft, trapping miners below and resulting in 204 deaths.1942 World WarII: During the Battle of Bataan, U.S. Army sergeant Jose Calugas (pictured) organized a squad of volunteers to man an artillery position under heavy fire, an action that later earned him the Medal of Honor.2018 In MraukU, Myanmar, police fired into a crowd protesting the ban of an event to mark the anniversary of the end of the Kingdom of MraukU, resulting in seven deaths and twelve injuries.Isaac Komnenos (b.1093)George Hunter Cary (b.1832)Cliff Thorburn (b.1948)Seungkwan (b.1998)More anniversaries: January 15January 16January 17ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Experts are concerned that artifacts and bootprints on the moon might be affected by lunar landing missions, space tourism and space junk. NASAEvery two years, the nonprofit World Monuments Fund releases a list of cultural heritage sites it deems most at risk of disappearing because of threats like war or climate change. The line-up of landmarks usually includes historic temples, cemeteries and neighborhoods. But this year, a surprising new locale made the list: the moon.The moon seems so far outside of our scope, Bndicte de Montlaur, the organizations president and chief executive officer, tells the New York Times Zachary Small. But with humans venturing more and more into space, we think it is the right time to get ourselves organized.Case in point: On Wednesday, the same day the group released its2025 World Monuments Watch report, a SpaceX rocket blasted off from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida to launch two private robotic landers to the moon.More broadly, NASA plans to put humans back on the moon during this decade through its Artemis missions. The space agency also wants to build a permanent base on Earths natural satellite to help prepare for possible human missions to Mars. And thats just the United Statesother countries are also pursuing lunar missions.The moon is further imperiled by the growing mass of space junk floating in its vicinity, as well as the emerging space tourism market. Advocates of protecting human heritage on the moon have raised concerns about vacationers in the future damaging lunar historic sites, or robotic spacecraft inadvertently destroying them when landing.More specifically, the World Monument Fund says such disturbances could threaten more than 90 sites on the moons surface that reflect some of humankinds most extraordinary feats of courage and ingenuity.One such location is Tranquility Base, the name given to the place where astronauts first walked on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. There, they left behind 106 artifacts, from Neil Armstrongs boot print to the descent stage of the landing module itself.Places like Tranquility Base represent remarkable science and engineering milestones rooted in millennia of astronomical study and remain a source of growing scientific knowledge, according to the World Monuments Fund.These landing sites also mark moments that stirred the collective imagination and inspired a sense of global wonder and shared accomplishment, the group adds.Protecting the moon will be tricky, since it doesnt belong to any one nation or government. But experts are optimistic that international cooperation is possible.You have some precedents and the main, most interesting one is Antarctica, where monuments were nominated like Shackletons Hut, de Montlaur tells the London Times Jack Blackburn. You have a treaty in Antarctica recognizing heritage and protecting it.Fifty-two countries, including the United States, have already signed the Artemis Accordsa non-legally binding set of statements that describe best practices for exploring the moon, Mars, comets and asteroids. Among theirmany goals, the accords are meant to protect shared outer space heritage, but they dont include specific guidelines for how countries nations do that.The moon is just one of the 25 sites on this years list of at-risk areas, selected from more than 200 nominations. Others include places threatened by climate change, such as heritage sites on the Swahili Coast of East Africa.This region faces pressing threats like storm surges and rising sea levels, de Montlaur tells the Art Newspapers Allison C. MeierMaines 66 historic lighthousessome of which are more than 200 years oldare also grappling with sea-level rise and increasingly intense winter storms.They are now facing a threat level not anticipated or seen before, says Ford Reiche, whose private Presumpscot Foundation owns two Maine lighthouses, to the Bangor Daily News Troy R. Bennett. Some will likely be lost.Human conflicts are devastating other landmarks on the list, including the Teachers House in Kyiv, Ukraine, where the nations parliament began meeting after the Ukrainian Peoples Republic declared independence in 1918. Its dome was damaged and its windows and doors knocked out by a nearby Russian missile strike in October 2022. The World Monument Fund says it supports efforts to rehabilitate the building as a national symbol of resilience and enduring identity in times of conflict.Gaza also made the list. Much of the area has been destroyed by Israels military since October 7, 2023, in response to a surprise invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants. The Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City, for example, has sustained at least two strikes. Its believed to be the third-oldest church in the world, and its an important place of worship for the few Christians in Gaza, most of whom are Greek Orthodox.On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal.As we all know, the Middle East is a cradle of civilization, de Montlaur tells NPRs Neda Ulaby. And in Gaza, you have examples of those various communities and their heritage that have lived there.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Artifacts, Astronauts, Climate Change, Cultural Heritage, History, Monument, Moon, NASA, Outer Space, Religion

Unlike traditional deep learning, which interpolates between data points, program synthesis searches for discrete programs that explain data.Read More

Nintendo under fire once again for omitting original devs from remaster creditsRetro Studios once again excluded from credits, this time from Donkey Kong Country Returns HDImage credit: Nintendo News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 15, 2025 Donkey Kong Country Returns HD remaster is under fire for omitting the original development team from its credits.As reported by Nintendo Life, the remaster - handled by Forever Entertainment - only acknowledges the original developers of the 2010 Wii game with a statement saying the game was "based on the work of the original development staff."This is the second time Retro Studios has been omitted from the credits of a remaster; in 2023, Metroid Prime Remastered was also criticised for leaving Retro Studios off its credits list.At the time, original technical lead engineer Jack Mathews called it a "tragedy," adding: "When my son plays Metroid Prime on the Switch for the first time, the fact that he won't see [my] and my colleagues' names in the credits as the original creators is a punch in the gut."Nintendo has also been challenged for previously excluding contractors and translators from its credit rolls, too.Nintendo has yet to respond publicly to requests for comment.

George Jijiashvili, Senior Principal Analyst, GamesJanuary 15, 20254 Min ReadAt a GlanceFlat app download figures strongly indicate that Meta is not significantly expanding the Quest's audience.Omdia analysis of Sensor Tower data reveals that the Meta Quest mobile companion app downloads fell on Christmas Day 2024 by 27% compared to 2023, despite the launch of the Meta Quest 3S in October. Priced from $300, the Quest 3S is a follow-up to the highly successful Quest 2. There was a palpable hope within the industry that it would reinvigorate VR hardware sales thanks to its attractive price (starting from $300), bundling the new Batman: Arkham Shadow game, and its enhanced passthrough mixed reality features.Figure 1: Meta Quest mobile app downloads over the past six yearsTotal 2024 app downloads grew slightly to 7.8 million, but this is still well below 2022s record of 10.3 million (see Figure 1). Decembers total downloads were down by 21% year-on-year. Even with an attractively priced bundle and good awareness for the brand, the Quest 3S struggled to attract new consumers, signaling broader challenges in the VR market (see: Reality check for VR: Omdia forecasts decline as Apples entry fails to galvanize market).While not an exact representation of Quest headset sales, Meta Quest app download figures serve as a good barometer, given the mobile app must be downloaded as part of the initial setup of the headset. Sensor Tower does not count re-downloads, app updates, or subsequent downloads on new or additional devices for an existing iOS/Google Play account.Factors like second-hand sales, upgrades, headset sharing, and non-owners downloading the app to explore the app store muddy the data. Nevertheless, the flat app download figures strongly indicate that Meta is not significantly expanding the Quest's audience beyond its existing user base. This aligns with other indicative data, such as sales figures on Amazon product pages and VR headset components channel data, which similarly point to a plateauing market. Metas growing focus on smart glasses signals a shift in strategy, as the company explores alternative form factors that may better appeal to the mass market than VR.Indicative Amazon data suggests Meta Quest sales underperformed during Black Friday monthAccording to data from Amazon product pages, over 160,000 Quest headsets were sold in November 2024 across eight countries down by 16% compared to 2023 (see Figure 2). The Quest 3S accounted for 66% of sales, with the Quest 3 making up the remainder. November typically marks the peak VR sales due to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, during which Meta offered substantial discounts on both Quest 3 and Quest 3S models in all markets. The US site represented 73% of total sales, providing a good indication of the global picture.Quest 3S struggled to attract new VR users or serve as a compelling upgrade for Quest 2 owners, as its improvements were viewed as incremental. Internally, the Quest 3S is very similar to the Quest 2 and retains its bulkiness, largely due to the ongoing use of Fresnel lenses. A recurring criticism from reviewers and users has been its inferior comfort compared to the Quest 3which likely stems from Metas cost-cutting measures. Further hindering Quest 3S appeal is the limited AR content fully leveraging its improved hardware, as well as the compatibility of most Quest Store content with the Quest 2. These factors, combined with VRs continued inability to appeal to a broader audience beyond existing enthusiasts, dampened demand during the holiday season.Figure 2: Quest headset sales on Amazon declined 16% YoY during the Black Friday sales monthThe Meta Quest iPhone app's recurring appearance in the top 200 free app rankings during the holiday season aligns with the seasonal trend of headset sales, particularly around Christmas when these devices are popular gifts. This pattern also underscores the dominance of the US, Canada, and UK as key markets, where the app reliably breaks into the top 10 and often briefly reaches the number 1 spot on the Christmas Day. In stark contrast, the other three countriesGermany, France, and Australiahover much further down the rankings, never coming close to the top 10 and barely breaking into the top 50, highlighting a significant gap in market engagement (see Figure 3).Figure 3: iPhone App Store ranking data underlines Meta Quest headsets seasonality and prominence in the USAlthough the surge in popularity and peak concurrent users engaging in VR games during the holiday period signals some positive interest, the larger issues surrounding the VR category persist. According to Omdias Consumer VR Headset and Content Revenue Forecast, headset sales fell by 10% in 2024 to 6.9 million units, while those in active use fell by 8% to 21.9 million. Engagement throughout the year is inconsistent, posing a significant hurdle to Meta's ambition of cultivating a self-sustaining VR ecosystem. Limited compelling new content, developers questioning the ROI of VR projects, and a lack of broader consumer interest are the fundamental challenges that will be difficult to overcome, as long as VR headsets remain in their current form.Read more about:[Company] MetaOmdia | Game Industry AnalysisAbout the AuthorGeorge JijiashviliSenior Principal Analyst, Games, OmdiaGeorge is a regular contributor to Game Developer and a principal analyst at Omdia, leading research into games and AR/VR markets. Based in London, he produces insights into the games sector through regular reports, market sizing and forecasting. His specialisms include the video games market, cloud gaming, and wearable technology. He previously worked at CCS Insight.See more from George JijiashviliDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

If youre looking for a cheaper alternative to the new Kindle Scribe, weve got good news: the first-gen model is on sale for a couple hundred dollars less than the second-gen model. Normally $349.99 in new condition, Amazon is currently selling it with in refurbished configuration with 16GB of storage, a Basic Pen, and a one-year warranty for just $233.99 as a part of a limited-time lightning deal. You can also buy it at Amazon with 32GB of storage for $259.99.RelatedBoth of Amazons note-taking ebook readers sport a spacious 10.2-inch 300 ppi display and an adjustable warm light, though the latest Scribe builds upon the original with thinner bezels, a textured display, and a soft-tipped Premium Pen. The most significant changes come in the form of software features, which are available on the first-gen model via a free download. That means no matter which e-reader you buy, you can finally write notes directly on pages. Youll also be able to take advantage of various AI features, including AI-generated summaries and a tool that lets you refine your handwriting. The only difference is that the new Scribe comes with these features baked in.Read our original Kindle Scribe review.Kindle Scribe 2022 (refurbished)$234$31025% off$234$234$31025% offThe last-gen Kindle Scribe offers a crisp 10.2-inch display, terrific battery life, and a stylus for note-taking.Three more midweek discountsThe Beats Powerbeats Pro are down to $99.99 (half off) at Best Buy, which is their lowest price to date. The wireless earbuds are still exceptionally comfortable despite their age, with over-ear hooks that keep them securely in place during intense workouts. They also continue to deliver good sound, pair well with Apple devices, and last up to nine hours on a single charge, though youll still need a Lightning cable to charge them. Read our review.AmazonandBest Buy are selling theApple Pencil Pro foriPad Pro,iPad Air, and iPad Mini; however, unlike theApple Pencil (USB-C), the Pro model features Find My support so you can quickly locate it. It also comes with extra creative capabilities, including pressure sensitivity, double-tap tool switching, and a barrel roll feature that lets you twist your digital brushs orientation by turning the stylus as you paint.You can pick up the Chipolo One Point at Amazon for $22 ($5 off), an all-time low. The puck-shaped Bluetooth tracker is perfect for keeping tabs on various items, whether it be a set of keys or a pet collar. The keyring tracker also features a user-replaceable battery, IPX5 water resistance, and support for Androids Fast Pair feature, though keep in mind it only supports Googles Find My platform, not Apples.

The growth of data in the digital age presents both opportunities and challenges. An immense volume of text, images, audio, and video is generated daily across platforms. Traditional machine learning models, while effective in many scenarios, often struggle to process high-dimensional and unstructured data without extensive preprocessing and feature engineering. This approach is not only time-consuming but can also miss subtle patterns in the data. These limitations are particularly significant in fields like medical imaging, autonomous driving, and natural language processing, where understanding complex patterns is essential. This gap has led to the evolution of deep learning models, designed to learn directly from raw data.What is Deep Learning?Deep learning, a subset of machine learning, is inspired by the structure and functioning of the human brain. It employs artificial neural networks with multiple layershence the term deepto model intricate patterns in data. Unlike traditional machine learning, which relies heavily on manual feature extraction, deep learning models learn hierarchical representations on their own. Each layer in a neural network extracts progressively abstract features from the data, enabling these models to understand and process complex patterns. As noted by IBM, deep learning excels in handling unstructured data, making it valuable for tasks like image recognition, speech synthesis, and language translation.Technical Details and BenefitsDeep learning relies on artificial neural networks composed of layers of interconnected nodes. Notable architectures include:Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs): Designed for image and video data, CNNs detect spatial patterns through convolutional operations.Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs): Well-suited for sequential data like time series and text, RNNs retain context through loops.Transformers: Widely used in natural language processing, transformers leverage self-attention mechanisms to capture contextual relationships within text.These models are fueled by large datasets and advanced hardware, such as GPUs and TPUs. NVIDIA highlights how GPUs enable deep learning by accelerating computations through parallel processing. Key benefits of deep learning include:Automatic Feature Extraction: Minimizes the need for manual data preprocessing.High Accuracy: Delivers superior performance in many tasks.Scalability: Effectively utilizes large-scale datasets.Versatility: Adapts to a wide range of applications, from healthcare to finance.Various Deep Learning FrameworksResults, Applications, and ExamplesDeep learning has had a transformative impact across many fields by extracting valuable insights from complex data. Prominent applications include:Healthcare: AI models analyze medical images to detect diseases like cancer early. Deep learning algorithms can identify tumors with high precision, reducing false positives and improving diagnostic accuracy.Autonomous Vehicles: CNNs enable self-driving cars to interpret road conditions, detect obstacles, and make real-time decisions.Natural Language Processing: Models such as OpenAIs GPT and Googles BERT have advanced applications like chatbots, sentiment analysis, and machine translation.Finance: Fraud detection systems leverage deep learning to identify irregularities in transaction data.As AWS reports, businesses that incorporate deep learning often experience enhanced efficiency. For instance, Netflix uses deep learning to power its recommendation system, improving user satisfaction and retention.ConclusionDeep learning is changing the way machines learn and make decisions. By mimicking the brains approach to processing information, deep learning models have significantly impacted various industries. However, challenges like computational costs and data privacy concerns persist, emphasizing the need for continued research and innovation. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our65k+ ML SubReddit.(Promoted) Aswin Ak+ postsAswin AK is a consulting intern at MarkTechPost. He is pursuing his Dual Degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He is passionate about data science and machine learning, bringing a strong academic background and hands-on experience in solving real-life cross-domain challenges. Meet 'Height':The only autonomous project management tool (Sponsored)